False Damascus Finish

[Jaxe Pen Kits]

Does anyone know how to replicate a good damascus look on carbon steel? Like a twist pattern damascus blade?

 

[sunshadow]

yes but it involves forgewelding a few layers of different alloys of steel together, hammering them out, folding them and repeating a few times followed by an etch

Why would you want to do a fake? I'm curious


-Page

 

[Jaxe Pen Kits]

Rifle barrel - muzzleloader. I am replicating a percussion English sporting rifle from the 1840's - 1860's time period and looking for a finish that's a little different.

 

[sunshadow]

That makes total sense! anything involving gunpowder pressures definitely should be a single piece of steel without possibilities of bad welds, voids etc.

Some of the jewelry supply companies have photo silkscreen resist or photoresist etching materials, I would experiment with those and Ferric Chloride. Do a google for "photoresist" or "Photo silk screen", if you don't find anything email me and I'll send you some links tonight when I have my catalogs at hand.

-Page

 

[Bruce Bump]

It would have to be an acid etching process. Practice on scrap first of coarse but just try resisting the steel and scratching gently through the resist in the pattern you wish and simply dip it in weak ferric cloride. Have you played with damascus etching before? Its easy enough. Im interested to see the gun. Sounds cool!

They did this on several guns when fluid steel first came out because people still wanted the look of damascus.

 

[Fred.Rowe]

I had a conversation with a maker at the Cambridge show, where we discussed; poor man's damascus.
It is a process where you suspend the hardened blade in a cheap, ss pot with a 50/50 solution of chlorine bleach and water. You boil the solution for twenty minutes before submerging the blade. The angle that you suspend the blade affects the way the finish looks on the steel. Its a very unique look.
He was an accomplished maker and had two knives with him that where processed in this manner. I had never seen this done before and would like to give it a try.

Fred

 

[fitzo]

I would think there are opportunities here to work with mustard finishes, too, as the acid etch. Soak strings in mustard and wrap in patterns repeatedly to get the layered look. (Along the same lines of the complicated etching Von Hagen Knives has shown in the Gallery.)

 

[Gene Martin]

The easy way. Use a magic marker to put your pattern on the barrel. Etch. The magic marker acts as a resist and you'll have your pattern. Try it on a small piece and see.

Gene

 

[Jaxe Pen Kits]

The majic marker idea sounds interesting. What do you etch with? How do you then remove the marker and finish the steel. I am definitely going to try it. It could produce some interesting patterns

 

[Gene Martin]

Etch with ferric chloride. IIRC the magic narker is alcohol solvent. Some stuff called Goof off will take it off. I played with this some years back. It makes a simple or complex pattern, however artistic you want to be. The ferric chloride should be one part FC, 3 parts water, between 70-80 degrees F. Since it's just an etch, the steel should be finished already. After cleaning off the marker, just oil it.

Gene

 

[pso]

Further to what Gene said about using Magic Markers, make sure the surface is really clean first or the magic marker will "float off" during the etch. You may want to get some latex gloves from a paint store so you don't get finger prints on the steel. Go to the store and get a selection of different brands of permanent markers. Some put more ink on than others. You want a good thick coating. Obviously, ones with fat tips will cover large areas much faster than the fine tipped ones. We did not notice any difference between the different colors. If you need to recoat some part, wait a few minutes or your first coat comes right back off. After etching, almost any solvent (alcohol, acetone etc.) can be used to remove the resist. Alternatively, a Scotchpad or steel wool followed by a rinse in water would work but may mess up the pattern on your steel. We used this method to etch copper off our circuit boards in school.

Phil

 

[scottickes]

You can also use fingernail polish as a resist. It puts on a heavy thick coat that can be scratched off, or you can just carefully paint the pattern you're after. Acetone will remove the fingernail polish very easily when you're done etching.